MUMBAI: Envisioned as a space where women come together — not just to perform, but to inspire, support, and amplify one another – Sonic Tigress has pulled together an exciting and diverse lineup of strong voices for its debut edition in Bangalore on March 29.
Headlining the festival will be popular Bollywood singers Sukriti and Prakriti Kakkar, who have multiple individual hits to their name and perform together as SuPra. Sukriti and Prakriti have often raised the issue of female representation in the music industry, and it’s apt that they’re playing a festival created around the idea of increasing female participation in the music industry.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity for us to play a festival led by women, and only for women,” say the twins. “Equality for women in music is a cause that is very close to our heart, and we have always sought to inspire women to embrace their individuality and to stand up for themselves,” they add.
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Joining them will be multilingual vocalist Nikhita Gandhi, folksy blues singer and one of the biggest names from north east India, Tipriti Kharbangar – performing with Japanese trumpeter Chie Nishikori – and India’s only all-women hip-hop collective Wild Wild Women. The multi-genre festival has also roped in two very special acts from Bangalore, instrumentalist Niveditha Ode Linda and Meg & The Miracles led by 13-year-old rock vocalist Megan Rakesh, who often accompanies legendary Indian band Parikrama.
Sonic Tigress is open to only women attendees, and is dedicated to being a 100 per cent safe space for women, even asking performing artists to rework the band lineup, an idea that performing artists have responded to enthusiastically, and subsequently creating special sets for the festival. Additionally, all the support staff – production crew, sound and light engineers, volunteers, social media team, merchandising and even PR – are women-led teams.
“Fewer women exist in technical roles in the music industry which I think can really change thanks to a festival like Sonic Tigress where the technicians – like the visual artists and sound engineers – are also women,” says Nikhita, the voice behind hit songs like ‘Tere Pyaar Mein’ and ‘Naach Meri Rani’.
In addition to the music on offer, attendees will also be regaled by irreverent female comic and writer Aditi Mittal, whose commitment to gender equality has been the focus of many initiatives over the years.
“I am so excited to be performing at Sonic Tigress. I know it’s going to be wild, because when the world is a jungle, the tigresses have to come out to play!” she says, in her inimitable style.
The festival is also collaborating with beauty brand and retail platform Tira to set an exclusive space for attendees to create their perfect festival look.
As part of the festival’s effort to create awareness about the festival, multiple installations called Scream-O-Meter have been set up across Bangalore, inviting women to scream out their frustrations, with higher the decibel, the more lucrative the prizes – like winning free tickets to the festival.
Tickets for the festival can be purchased here.
